Latest News
RILM is Hiring (Executive Assistant)
RILM seeks an Executive Assistant / Office Manager to aid the Executive Director with administrative duties and provide support to management. The successful candidate must have superior organizational skills to support and empower senior leadership. The ideal person for the job will be a proactive problem solver with exceptional communication skills and meticulous attention to detail. They will have previous experience working in an office environment, performing administrative duties and providing support to management. Knowledge of the academic, library, and/or online information arenas would be a plus. Given the changing nature of the executive landscape, we seek an individual with flexibility and foresight, while
REFERENCE SOURCES SPOTLIGHT: Fantastic Archival Collections and Where to Find Them
Following is an overview of different and complementary ways to look for archival collections, particularly regarding music. Some may be familiar, but readers will hopefully find some avenues that are off their beaten paths. Archival ConsortiaArchival consortia are often organized around geographical areas, such as ArchivesWest, or Texas Archival Resources Online. The scope of collections in these consortia offers a partially overlapping Venn diagram of 1), collections that are held in a given repository in the consortium, and 2), collections concerned with the history and culture of a geographical area. They also offer pooled resources and economies of scale that
REFERENCE SOURCES SPOTLIGHT: Umbra Search African American History
https://www.umbrasearch.org/ Archival materials of African American history and music-making are often hidden within collections that do not make the existence of these materials apparent, which complicates archival research that much more. In 2012, the University of Minnesota, in collaboration with Penumbra Theatre Company, set out to address this issue by focusing on the needs of unique needs of theater and performing arts archives. The project quickly expanded to include all cultural materials related to the African American community and resulted in Umbra Search. A powerful search tool that collates digitally available materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the
Call for Nominations: Publications Awards
The Publications Awards Committee welcomes nominations for the following annual awards: The Vincent H. Duckles Award, for the best book-length bibliography or other research tool in music. The Richard S. Hill Award, for the best article on music librarianship or article of a music-bibliographic nature. The Eva Judd O’Meara Award, for the best review published in Notes. Publications nominated for the awards to be announced in 2023 must have been published during the 2021 calendar year. The deadline for nominations is Sunday, June 12, 2022. Nominations may be directed to any member of the committee: Ryan Johnson, chair (Ryan.johnson01 at
Call for Applications: 2022 Diversity Scholarship Award
The MLA Diversity Scholarship Award Committee is now accepting applications for the 2022 MLA Diversity Scholarship Award. This scholarship award, funded by the membership of MLA, offers students from under-represented groups the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS) with financial support. Once again, we are delighted to offer two Diversity Scholarships this year! The goal of the scholarship is to recruit students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups into music librarianship by providing support for master’s-level LIS education. Students who have applied to or are enrolled in an ALA-Accredited MLIS program with a concentration, certificate,
Call for Nominations: MLA Members-at-Large and the MLA Citation
The 2022 MLA Nominating Committee welcomes nominations for: I. Three Members-at-Large to serve on the Board of Directors for a two-year term, 2023-2025 Board members represent the membership as they carry out the Association’s work. The three incoming Board members will be selected by the President to serve as Assistant Parliamentarian, Assistant Planning and Reports Officer, or Assistant Fiscal Officer. Nominations should reflect the entire range and nature of the work of the Association’s members. Incumbents may not succeed themselves. Candidates for office must be personal members of the Association. We are especially eager to create a slate of candidates that
Get Involved in MLA Leadership
Please join the MLA board and friends for a town hall series about getting involved in MLA leadership. We both need and value a much more inclusive leadership body and to that end, are hosting a town hall on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 3-4 pm Eastern / 2-3 pm Central / 1-2 pm Mountain / 12-1 pm Pacific. This session will focus on demystifying MLA board of directors service (both how to get involved and what’s involved in service). The session will be led by Bruce Evans (Chair, Nominating Committee) and Ellen Ogihara (recent Student/Early Career Representative to the
SMART Copyright Act
In recent years, we have seen a number of legislative efforts brought forward that were introduced as anti-piracy measures, but whose design would go far beyond addressing copyright infringement, leading to significant censorship online. The SMART Copyright Act of 2022 introduced in the Senate seeks to require new technology measures to act as a filter to prevent infringing content online. It’s unclear why this bill is necessary: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act already requires internet companies to have technological measures in place to address issues of copyright infringement. As the Library Copyright Alliance points out, civil and criminal penalties for
2022 MLA Citation Award
The MLA Citation, the Association’s tribute for lifetime achievement, is awarded in recognition of distinguished service to music librarianship over a career. It is the highest honor we bestow. The 2022 MLA Citation Award recipient is Randye Jones. The text of the Citation was read at the business meeting on March 5, 2022: As a true champion of the music of African Americans and of paraprofessionals in music libraries, she has positively contributed to the work of MLA’s members and their patrons. Her decades-long, groundbreaking work has produced a multifaceted body of research and performances of African-American vocal music. Her websites,
2022 MLA Award Recipients
As announced at the business meeting at the virtual annual conference on March 5, 2022, here are the recipients of the awards given by the Music Library Association. MLA Diversity Scholarship The MLA Diversity Scholarship Award offers candidates from under-represented groups the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS) with financial support. The 2022 recipients of the MLA Diversity Scholarship are Michelle Rivera and Jade Vaughan. https://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/page/DiversityScholarship Kevin Freeman Travel Grant The Kevin Freeman Travel Grant supports travel and hotel expenses to attend the Music Library Association annual meeting. Recipients must be either a student, recent